


Knight in Shining Armor

by thecompletebookworm



Series: Rumbelle Showdown [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Showdown 2018, Rumple rescues Belle from the Asylum, season 1 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: Round 1 of Rumbelle Showdown 2018 (originally published as Tilly)Prompts: horror; can’t wait to leave; give it another tryMr. Gold followed Madame Mayor to the hospital hoping for some blackmail material.  He found something much more important instead.





	Knight in Shining Armor

The room was like something out of a horror movie.  Cold imposing grey walls, condensation dripping from the ceiling.  He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he followed Madame Mayer on one of her secret visits to the hospital, but it certainly wasn’t the horror movie-esque, probably asbestos filled hospital room. Of all the horrors in this room, the huddled mass in the corner that made Mr. Gold firmly believe this couldn’t be reality. 

Her dark curls were matted against the back of her head.  They were so knotted he was sure it would take hours of delicate work to get them back to normal. She shivered in the cold of the dungeon–basement, the cursed part of his mind whispered, this is a basement–but Rumplestiltskin couldn’t see this horrible place for anything besides what it was. He almost wished this were another nightmare, another one of those frightful dreams where he imagined what the clerics did. Because if it wasn’t, it meant that she’d been here, suffering right under his nose.   

“Belle."  Her name slipped out as he stared at her.  He wondered if it sounded like a prayer to anyone besides him.     

She shifted on the bed. 

At her reaction, at the proof that this was real, Rumplestiltskin allowed himself to say it again.  Her name felt so wonderful on his lips again.   He hadn’t let himself say it, not since he thought she’d died, not since he knew he thought he was responsible for snuffing out such pure light.  It was just too painful, but now with Belle right there, her name made his insides bubbled.  Rumplestiltskin allowed himself to approach the bed.  If he could just touch her without her disappearing or waking up, he’d know that this was real and not another guilt-induced nightmare. 

Of course, it might have been better if this was a nightmare. Belle’s body looked too frail, too thin, and too pale. She looked nothing like the young women who had so willingly given herself to the beast. Belle had been right here, right under his nose, and he had been focused on Emma, the sheriff election and a million things that paled in comparison to his True Love’s pain.   

He must have been too loud in his haste to approach the bed. Belle lurched backwards.  Her entire body shaking as she tried to put as much distance between herself and the intruder as possible. Her instinctive response only allowed Belle a few inches and a sore wrist. Her right hand went to massage her chaffed left wrist as she glared at him. She couldn’t move far though. Her left wrist was shackled to the iron bedframe.

And with her reaction, Rumplestiltskin felt his heart break once again. Of course she hated him.  It was her association with him that had landed her here. He had made her life hell and he couldn’t help the tears from escaping.  Gold continued to stare but refused to move closer unless she wanted him to.  

"Belle, I’m so sorry. I-” He trailed off. 

She was staring at him, not glaring anymore. Her eyes glistened with both curiosity and caution.

“Belle?  Who’s Belle? Who are you?"  

Rumplestiltskin clenched his jaw and closed his eyes for a second.  He should have realized that Belle would be no exception to the curse. He just hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t even considered Belle being alive and cursed was an option.  He also felt guilty at the feeling of relief rising within him. She didn’t hate him. She couldn’t remember him or how he’d ruined her life. This was a chance to start over, to give it another try without their history getting in the way. But that would be incredibly cruel to her. She deserved the opportunity to know all the facts. She would only hate him more after the curse broke.  

"I’m a friend, sweetheart.  I just want to help."  

Her brow furrowed. Her voice was resigned. "They’re all just trying to help."  

Rumplestiltskin moved toward the edge of her bed slowly. He studied her face the entire time.  Even though every single part of him was urging him to get as close to her as possible, to hold her and never let her go, he did not want to do anything to frighten her.  

"I promise. I’m absolutely not like them. I want to get you out of here."  

She gave him a small smile. "You don’t think I’m too dangerous?" 

He nearly let out a laugh.  "Oh sweetheart, I know you couldn’t hurt a fly." 

Belle grimaced.  "I’m not so sure that’s true. You have no idea what I’d do to get out of here." 

Rumplestiltskin couldn’t help but reach out and grab her hand. It was instinctive. He needed to reassure her, make her know that nothing she said would stop him from trying to help her. He smiled when she didn’t pull away. Belle was here. She was alive. She was letting him touch her with no disgust evident on her face. 

“And I don’t think anyone would blame you for that. Sweetheart if I wasn’t so concerned about getting you out of here, I’d throttle the nurses with my cane myself.   

Belle looked at their joint hands and frowned.   

“Why do you care so much?  I’m nobody to you.” 

Rumplestiltskin bit his lips to keep a wounded groan from reaching her ears. She was everything to him, his light in a sea of darkness.  He wanted to grovel at her feet to make sure she never doubted what she meant to him. He couldn’t blame her though, even if this was his Belle with all her memories she would still doubt him.  He broke her heart, thrown her out and told her she didn’t matter.  

“You remind me of someone I loved more than anything in the world.  I failed her. I can’t let the same thing happen to you.”  

Belle nodded slowly.     

"So you’re helping me because you feel guilty?"  She said the words in such a matter a fact way. He didn’t feel judged. If anything, she preferred that he didn’t have an altruistic motive. She’d had too much forced on her for her own good. Pills, freezing showers, shock therapy were all supposedly done for her own good.  It was a relief to be able to see exactly what he got out of this situation.  

Rumplestiltskin wanted to argue, but merely nodded. Her face held more curiosity than fear now and he didn’t want to say anything to change that. 

"Do I get to know the name of my knight in shining armor?” she asked, leaning closer to him.  

It would probably be for the best if he just told her Gold. But he itched to hear her say his name after so long. Still Rumplestiltskin was not something common in this world. He didn’t want something as silly as her name to scare her away especially as they hadn’t even made it out of the hospital dungeon yet.  He compromised.  

“You can call me Rum, sweetheart." 

"Rum.” She tentatively tested out the name and Rumplestiltskin hoped she didn’t notice how even that simple action made his heart soar. “I like it.  Um, I don’t really, I can’t-. I mean you can call me ‘hey you’ for all you like.  It’s not like I have much better to offer.” 

He spoke without thinking. “Belle. Your name is Belle.”


End file.
